Korean Media Outlet: “Fans, Do You Like Byun Woo-seok Or Ryu Sun-jae?”

It’s been more than a week since “Lovely Runner” ended, but the popularity of its actors and actresses continue. In particular, “Ryu Seon-jae” Byun Woo-seok is at the center of this craze.

Byun Woo-seok debuted in tvN’s drama “Dear My Friends” in 2016 while working as a model. He played minor roles in dramas “Moon Lovers” and “Weight Lifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo” before landing major roles in dramas such as “Record of Youth,” “Moonshine,” “Strong Woman Gang Nam-soon,” and “Lovely Runner” as well as movies “20th Century Girl” and “Soul Mate.”

Byun received two positive responses with “Record of Youth” and “20th Century Girl,” but he is getting more popular than ever with “Lovely Runner.” You can guess Byun’s popularity just by looking at his Instagram followers. His number of followers around 2 million when he appeared on “Strong Woman Gang Nam-soon,” surpassed 7 million when “Lovely Runner” was aired, exceeded 9.5 million when it ended and is about to surpass 10 million soon.

According to Good Data Corporation’s platform FUNdex as of the 28th of last month, Byun proved his popularity by ranking first in the TV-OTT drama popularity survey for the fourth consecutive week in May. In particular, Byun ranked first in the drama and non-drama cast popularity survey in the fourth week of May. It is the first time that a specific person has dominated the popularity of all fields since 2015 when Good Data Corporation began analyzing K contents and presenting the results. Byun scored 29,672 points for “Lovely Runner,” and scored 4,997 points for “You Quiz On The Block,” sweeping the top spot.

He was also listed as “the actor who lost his name,” a standard of actors’ popularity in Korea. It is not difficult to see people calling him “Ryu Sun-jae” instead of Byun Woo-seok. “Lovely Runner”’s first OST “Sudden Shower” by Eclipse, of which Byun acted as a member, climbed to No. 5 on Korea’s biggest music site Melon’s TOP100, and went beyond that to enter the Billboard Global 200 chart at No. 199 on June 8.

Wherever Byun goes to is crowded with fans. They gathered at the cafe where his interview was held, at Incheon International Airport when he was heading to Taiwan and at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport as well. Byun’s appearance made people realize his popularity, as it was broadcast live through local media.

Through this, it can be seen that the syndrome of Byun Woo-seok is ongoing, and the Ryu Sun-jae craze is also ongoing. With the formula that Ryu Sun-jae is Byun Woo-seok, and Byun Woo-seok is Ryu Sun-jae, he created a synergy effect, which affected the actor himself and the work, creating his current popularity. In particular, Byun approached fans like Ryu Sun-jae on a communication platforms and offline, naturally moving “Ryu Sun-jae Craze” to “Byeon Woo-seok Syndrome.”

Whether the public likes Byun Woo-seok or Ryu Sun-jae in “Lovely Runner,” Byun Woo-seok is showing off his own charm through various activities such as appearing in entertainment shows, opening a fan communication platform, and holding a fan meeting, making the public naturally become his fans. Thus, even after the end of “Lovely Runner,” Byun can continue his popularity as “Byeon Woo-seok,” not “Ryu Sun-jae.”